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The Hindbrain

Having evolved hundreds of millions of years ago, the Hindbrain or the Reptillian Brain is the oldest part of the human brain. As you might guess from it's name, it's a piece of brain anatomy that we share with reptiles and is the most primitive. Likewise it's in charge of our primal instincts and most basic functions. Things like the instincts of survival, dominance, mating and the basic functions of respiration, heartbeat all come from this area of the brain. Located in the Hindbrain are:

• The Spinal Cord

This is the infomation superhighway of the body. It carries information up to the brain and instructions back down.

• The Medulla Oblongata

Helps control the body's autonomic functions (things you don't need to think about to perform) like respiration, digestion and heart rate. Also acts as a relay station for nerve signals going to/from the brain

• The Pons

Has roles in your level of arousal or conciousness and sleep. Relays sensory information to/from the brain. Also involved in controlling autonomic body functions.

• The Cerebellum

Mostly deals with movement. It regulates and coordinates movement, posture and balance. Also involved in learning movement.

The Limbic System

The Limbic System sometimes called the "emotional brain" or "Old Mammalian Brain" is the next brain to have evolved in the more primitive mammals about 150 million years ago. This is where our emotions reside, where memory begins and where these two functions combine together to mark behaviours with positive or negative feelings. It's where mostly unconcious value judgements are made. Information going through the Limbic System are filed under "agreeable or disagreeable". It also plays a role in salience (what grabs your attention), spontaneity and creativity. Located in the Limbic System are:

• The Amygdala

It's name is latin for almond which relates to its shape. It helps in storing and classifying emotionally charged memories. It plays a large role in producing our emotions, especially fear. It's been found to trigger responses to strong emotion such as sweaty palms, freezing, increased heart-beat/respiration and stress hormone release.

• The Hippocampus

This guy is all about memory and a little about learning. It's primary role is in memory formation, classifying information, long-term memory. Like the RAM in your computer it processes and stores new and temporary memory for long term storage. It's also involved in interpreting incoming nerve signals and spatial relationships.

• The Hypothalamus

It should be called the Hyperthalamus because it does so much. It's linked closely with the pituitary gland to control many of the body's functions. It monitors and controls your circadian rhythms (your daily sleep/wake cycle), homeostasis (making sure your body is running smoothly), apetite, thirst, other bodily urges and also plays a role in emotions, autonomic functions and motor functions.

• The Thalamus

The Thalamus is THE relay station in the brain. Most of the sensory signals, auditory (sound), Visual, Somatosensory (from your skin and internal organs), go through this organ on their way to other parts of the brain for processing. It also plays a function in motor control.

The Neocortex

The last and most advanced brain to evolve to date is called the Neocortex, neomammalian or rational brain. We share this part of our brain with other higher level mammals like the primates and dolphins, although in humans the neocortex is the largest. It takes up 2/3's of the human brain. This is where we find the brain power to develop language, abstract thought, conciousness and imagination. Let there be no doubt, this is what grants us our status on the food chain and allows us to be human.

The Neocortex is divided into two hemispheres, right and left. The right side of the brain controls the left side of the body and vice versa. Also the hemispheres are divided in terms of what kind of thought they process or produce. The right being more concerned with the artistic, spatial and musical. While the left is more concerned with the colder, linear, rational and verbal aspects. Located in the Neocortex are:

• The Frontal Lobe

This is the most recent evolutionary addition to the brain. If the brain had a White House it would be here. It is the true center for command and control in your body. The Frontal lobe is responsible for functions such as reasoning, problem solving, judgement, impulse control. This coupled with the fact that it's the last to develop when we are young adults, probably answers a lot of questions for many parents out there. It also manages our higher emotions such as empathy and altruism. This lobe is also involved in motor control and memory.

• The Parietal Lobe

The Parietal Lobe is involved in processing pain and touch sensation. It's where the Somatosensory (from your skin and internal organs) Cortex resides. It's also associated with cognition (including calculating location and speed of objects), movement, orientation, recognition and speech.

• The Temporal Lobe

The Temporal Lobe is involved in auditory (sound) sensation and is where the Primary Auditory Cortex and on the left hemisphere, Wernicke's Area (language recognition) are located. This lobe is also involved in emotion, memory and speech.

• The Occipital Lobe

The Occipital Lobe controls visual sensation and processing. The Visual Cortex is resides here.

• Broca's Area

This part of the cortex controls speech, language recognition and facial nerves.

• The Corpus Callosum

This is the neural bridge that connects the two hemispheres to each other, located centrally in brain.

 

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